Two-way Traffic Urged On Two Hallandale Roads

HALLANDALE -- A move to open Dixie Highway to two-way traffic from Pembroke Road to the Broward-Dade County line is being championed by city officials.

The city will ask the Broward County Division of Traffic and Engineering to allow both north and southbound traffic to use Dixie Highway and Southeast- Northeast First Avenue.

Only southbound traffic now uses Dixie Highway in Hallandale, while northbound traffic uses Southeast-Northeast First Avenue.

The one-way pairing of the two roads was done in 1983 to improve traffic flow and reduce truck traffic, city officials said.

But City Commissioner Art Canon said several merchants have complained because the one-way streets make it difficult for motorists to reach them.

``Business owners complain because when their customers pass their stores and cannot find parking, they can`t circle back and they might go someplace else,`` Canon said.

One-way southbound Dixie Highway also conflicts with Dixie in Dade, where traffic always has been two-way. Southbound traffic flows smoothly into Dade, but Canon said that northbound traffic on Dixie must cut through a number of residential streets to reach Southeast-Northeast First Avenue.

``Dade County didn`t follow suit (with a one-way pair) and that has limited the usefulness of having one-way roads,`` Canon said.

Rich Portegay, a traffic analysis supervisor for the Broward County Traffic Engineering Department, said his office will consider the request.

``Nothing is bound in cement,`` Portegay said. ``We`ll consider what is best for the citizens. It`s up to them how the streets should go.``

Portegay said the one-way streets are safer, however, because they reduce the possibilities for head-on collisions.

``In essence, we`ve doubled the capacity of the roadway,`` Portegay said. ``There are a tremendous amount of advantages. The disadvantages are generally selfish and self-serving.``